Like many local authorities, Kirklees Council is actively looking at ways to reduce its carbon footprint across its extensive property holdings, whilst at the same time owning large areas of woodland, many of which despite providing significant public amenity, were largely unmanaged and thus in declining condition. Recognising that there was an opportunity to solve two problems at once, Kirklees engaged RDI to undertake a survey of its woodlands, make recommendations for management and provide an estimate of the potential woodfuel resource.
The woodlands belonging to Kirklees were of very variable age, structure and species and thus standard forest mensuration techniques were of limited value, and so after extensive research a system was adopted which could accurately predict both thinning volumes and the proportion of the timber that would be suitable for woodfuel. Issues such as difficulty of extraction, on site chipping, fuel quality and the long term sustainable cut were taken into account in providing the authority with management prescriptions, thinning regimes, estimates of timber volumes, woodchip equivalents and the potential kWh output of the material at varying moisture contents. RDI also provided advice on the most suitable harvesting and chipping systems, the various options for chip specification and implications for woodfuel boiler installations.
Using this information, Kirklees Council is now in the process of installing its first woodfuel boiler, is submitting its woodlands for independent forest certification and investigating options for a woodfuel processing hub based in the borough.
